"I guess it's something I felt I had to face on my own," she elaborated. "Nobody else really knows what you're going through except another cancer patient. Even though your family is supportive and surrounds you."

However, Bates confessed: "If I go through it again, I think I would be a lot more open about it."

The Primary Colors star added: "I admire people who have been open like Melissa Etheridge and women I see walking around facing it without wigs and all of that stuff.